The Great Escape
by Skoobles
Summary: Stranded on a hostile planet that is more than it seems, Shepard and Tali must fight to save themselves and each other. Chapter 7 up!
1. An Easy Detail

First Mass Effect Fic! This story takes place sometime after the side mission in the armstrong nebula. Also, this is my character's orientation: Male Shep/ Vangaurd / Colonist / Sole Survivor. I don't make distinctions between Paragon and Renegade becasue I like to be both. **Please read and review** so I know what you think!

**Disclaimer: I don't own Mass Effect. I just play it.**

* * *

_Shepard scrambled for cover as hostile fire flew past him. His helmet had been knocked off by a grenade, and now his forehead was cut and leaking blood. __His gaze turned to his partner, his comrade whom he had fought alongside with for so long to get here, only to fail._

_"Get out of there!" Shepard shouted._

_Both were pinned down, and explosions shook the ground under them. If they didn't move, they were as good as dead._

_"Now, dammit! Move!"_

_"Commander..."_

_Shepard tried to lay down covering fire, but a round slammed into him, bringing down what little kinetic barriers he had left. He saw his fellow soldier leave cover and make a run for the LZ. He sprinted out to run the last leg of the race._

_Thirty meters...twenty...fifteen...almost there..._

_"Commander..."_

* * *

"...Commander Shepard!"

Shepard awoke from his drem in a cold sweat. Twice he had experienced this dream before, and twice he had awakened to a voice that called him back to the world of the living. Now he rose from the dead a third time. It was so real that at first, he couldn't tell if he was still dreaming or not.

"What is it, Joker?"

"Got some fan mail for you in the Comm room. This time it's the good Captian and the Admiral himself. Think they want your autograph?"

Joker. Always poking fun. Always turning battlefields of death into stages full of comedians. Shepard always liked that about his pilot.

"Be right there."

The Commander rose from his bed and began walking to the Comm room. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't shake this feeling of foreboding, flashback, or whatever it was. Something was not right. Something was out of place just like it had been on Akuze, Eden Prime, everywhere where disaster had entered life, shook his hand, and then stabbed him in the back as soon as he turned.

But why now? They had exposed Saren, defeated Sovreign, saved the galaxy. If there was any time to relax, it was now. Maby it was just in his nature. Biotics are a little fidgetty.

He almost walked into the door. Shaking off his dillusion and regaining his composure, Shepard entered the room. He was not suprised to see an assortment of half the races of the galaxy seated in a circle. Garrus, Wrex, Liara, Kaiden, and Tali waited as Shepard took his seat. He couldn't help recalling the old Earth stories of King Arthur and the knights of the round table.

A holographic image of Captian Anderson appeared, along with Admiral Hackett. This was the first time Shepard had seen the two together.

Admiral Hackett spoke first. "Well, now that we're all here, let's get down to business shall we? I assume you all know why I've called this meeting?"

Why else. Another mission. The Admiral had sent the crew of the Normandy on many missions of various objectives in the past, but there hadn't been much action lately. Truthfully, Shepard was glad for an excuse to leave the ship.

Although, he hoped that it would be something a little more important than tracking down pimates for a piece of junk data module. Stupid monkies.

The Commander was quick to inquire. "What's the situation?"

"You remember the assignment that I gave you in the Armstrong Nebula?" Shepard nodded. "Well, we need you to do it again."

They couldn't have been any more confusing if they tried. "Wait, _again_? I thought we already eliminated all the Geth outposts and the main base."

This time, Captain Anderson was the one to speak. "So did we. Apparently, the Geth had a backup plan."

A voice came from across the room. "They always do..." Tali knew the Geth better than any member of the Normandy.

The Captian went on. "After you finished mopping up, we sent several units to secure the area and establish communications with Fifth Fleet. Two days ago, nothing. Yesterday, recon saw what appeared to be Geth dropships located at the previous main base. Now, we need you to go in, secure the area, and wait for reinforcements."

"Finally, I get something to kill." The Krogans weren't know for their charming personalities.

Admiral Hackett followed up. "When you clear out all resistance, radio us. Once our boys get there, you're done. Fifth Fleet out."

Something was definately out of place, and Tali was the first to voice her concern. "Shepard, this isn't right. The Geth would never use the same strategy where it had once failed. This could be a trap."

The only quarian on board was usually right when it came to these situations, and Shepard knew it. "Just stay on your gaurd. If it is a trap, then we'll find a way out."

"Why fall into the trap when we can foil it before it's sprung?"

Shepard saw the wisdom in this, but he knew that there was nothing they could do about it. Of course it was a trap, who was he kidding?

"Well, look at it this way; it's an easy detail compared to Sovreign." Garrus was always optimistic about things.

Shepard had a feeling that they wouldn't have much to be optimistic about for very long.

* * *

And that's chapter 1. I'll try to post whenever I can. Also, I'm open to suggestions.

Once again, please read and review.


	2. Gearing Up

Second chapter! I got the update out as soon as I could.

Also, thank you to the people who have put my story on alert.

Now, back to the story.

* * *

Tali stood in the engine room pondering their newest assignment. Like Shpard, she too had a feeling of unease about this Geth occupation. She tried to concentrate on the broken electrical unit that she was trying to fix, but nothing could remove the splinter from the back of her mind.

_"Why would the geth try the same strategy twice? Why didn't Admiral Hackett just contact Shepard on the Galaxy Map instead of gathering half the crew, and why was Captian Anderson with him?_"

Obviously, there was something that the pair wasn't telling them about the mission. Maby they would tell them when they approached the nebula. After all, they still had a few hours left.

Tali was so preoccupied in her thoughts that she didn't notice all the nearby members of the crew salute as the commanding officer walked in the door.

"Hey, Tali."

She nearly jumped out of her skin. Or, environmental suit in the case of the Quarians.

"Oh, Shepard. I'm sorry, I didn't notice you come in. I was-"

"It's alright. Happens to me too."

Tali was still a little shaken from the suprise. In the past few days, she had been nervous when she was speaking to Shepard, but she didn't know why.

_"He must think I'm crazy after that. What's wrong with me lately?"_

Shepard went on. "You've already been briefed on our mission, right?" She nodded. "Then you know what we are headed into."

Tali knew very well what they were headed into. "Shepard, this may sound farfetched, but I think this whole thing is a setup. I mean think about it; the geth going to the exact same place and using the exact same tactics? That never happens."

Shepard forced a laugh. "Tell me about it."

For a second, Shepard paused as if he was unsure about what to say, as if his voice would quaver, but he quckly regained his composure and spoke.

"Look, Tali, I feel like you understand the situation better than anyone. I'm choosing you as one of my squad members for the assault. Plus, I've seen what you can do in combat. You're a hell of a soldier."

Tali smiled under her visor. "Well thanks, but you're still a little better than me."

Shepard laughed for real this time. "In any case, I'm telling you now so you can gear up and get ready. Wrex and Garrus will also be in the assault squad."

The Quarian beamed, and stood as tall as she could. "You can count on me Shepard!"

"Good. Now I just have to figure out how to fit four people in the Mako without us all getting crushed...I'll think of something."

As Shepard entered the elevator, Tail headed towards her locker. For some reason, she felt at ease now. Then, a deep voice that Tali didn't usually hear rang out.

"So, Shepard chose the Quarian to take on any army of geth with him. Sometimes I just don't understand humans..." Wrex was apparently not happy that the youngest member of the Normandy was going to be on the same mission with him. In fact, Tali and Wrex haden't seen eye to eye from day one. Their species couldn't be much more different, their personalities clashed, they just didn't go together.

Tali didn't let that stop her from trying to be friendly though. "Glad you're on this assignment too, Wrex."

"Just try not to loose it and run when the shooting starts." Wrex walked away after saying this, not giving Tali a chance to respond. Even though Tali had been with Shepard on many missions before, including the time they had defeated Saren and his Reaper, Wrex still treated her as if she had no experience at all. Like an inferior being.

She was tired of people stereotyping Quarians.

Deciding not to trouble herself over it, Tali turned back to the task of getting ready. She opened her locker to find a package inside.

_"I didn't put that there..."_

She opened it. Inside was a new shotgun, pistol, and omni-tool. She took each one out and examined them.

_"They look like good weapons. I wonder who - Keelah!"_

A closer look at the new arsonal revealed an astonishing detail; it was Specter gear. Tali also noticed a note in the box that she had overlooked before. She opened it, and her eyes wandered over the paper.

_Thought these might come in handy. Use them well._

Tali was not used to receiving a gift of this sort. Shepard was the only one who had ever been unconditionally kind to her.

_"Don't worry Shepard. I will."_

* * *

"Approaching the Hong system. ETA, five minutes." Joker was always proud to make an announcement to the crew of the Normandy. Tali, Shepard, Garrus and Wrex stood in the cockpit.

Shepard adressed his squad. "Everyone ready?"

The three others nodded. The plan was simple: go in, kick ass, come out.

"Alright, once we get down on Solcrum, you know what to do."

The four headed for the Mako, not one saying a word. Tali was the first to reach the vehicle. Wrex was the first to break the silence.

"Wait, how the hell are we going to fit in there? You can't expect to tell me that you're going to cram the four of us into that _damn car!_"

Shepard was very brief. "I am."

Wrex frowned. "You're not serious."

"I'm serious."

Tali could barely keep herself from falling on the floor with laughter.

_"Time to do what we do best."_

* * *

And that's chapter 2! Sorry if the start seems slow, but I want to have a good setup.

Next chapter I promise there will be some action.


	3. Bad To Worse

Chapter 3!

I'll cut to the chase.

* * *

Shepard sat in the Mako waiting for the drop. He had made this drop a hundred times before, and every time he had gotten sick to the stomach. It felt like riding a rollercoaster just after an extra-large Quazar dog, and the fact that there was one more member than usual in the tight space didn't help.

_"I can kill hundreds of Geth, fight off an attack by thresher maws on Akuze, survive slavers destroying Mindoir, but I can't sit in this stupid mini-van while it's dropped only a few hundred feet. I'm a real trooper aren't I?"_

Mindoir. Akuze. Shepard remembered those days. The day that the slavers came, took, burned, destroyed until the place that he called home was a desolate wasteland. The day that all hell broke loose and there was nothing he could do to stop it, where he lost two, five, then ten, then twenty, then the whole damn unit. It was like drowning in quicksand. You fight, and fight, and fight, but the harder you struggle, the deeper you sink. And before you know, you're buried six feet under ground with all the others. Other people had to be reminded of Akuze and Mindoir. Shepard never forgot. They were a part of him, just as the scar on the back of his neck was, and he reached behind to touch it, for the memories were as real as the wound itself...

The comm buzzed to life. "All clear. Dropping the Mako."

The lurch brought Shepard back from his past and into the present. They fell for a few seconds until it seemed as if they would collide with the ground in a deafening crash, but the thrusters were activated, bringing them to a smooth landing. They headed off to their objective.

"Solcrum looks like a nice, homey place. Maby I'll take my next leave here."

Shepard activated his comm. "Where are we headed to Joker?"

Joker took on a more serious tone, or at least serious for him. "Well, looks like there's no activity between you and the base, so I'd say we have the element of suprise. Can't see what's in the base though. I'll run a scan and let you know what comes up."

"Got it. Shepard out."

As the Mako started moving torwards the objective, there came a strange noise like the sound of wind. This puzzled Shepard because there was hardly any weather on the barren rock which they now travled upon. Garrus grew uneasy in the driver's seat.

"Uhh, guys..." said the Turian, "since when has there been any wind on this moon?"

Wrex had been pouting ever since they had all crammed into the Mako, and didn't make any effort to hide his annoyance and frustration.

"Quit your whining Turian. It's probably just an earthquake or something."

Garrus leaned around to face Wrex. "Oh yeah? When have there been any earthquakes on this moon, dumbass? Does anyone else think that the 'wind' that we're hearing say _hostiles_? Or am I just crazy?"

The Krogan smiled. Like any other time, his smile was actually uglier than his frown. "Well, if you want my opinion-"

"I don't," Garrus said, and turned back to the steering controls.

Tali and Shepard were silent during all this, but the tension was just as great inside them. Why was there wind on a moon? Nothing had come up on the radar, and the only thing that could simulate a breeze was a full-sized warship...

Or a fleet of dropships.

_"Damn, I hope that's not what we're heading into,"_ thought Shepard.

He now grew uneasy along with Garrus, but Shepard concealed his emotions. He turned around to see Tali staring back at him. It was like she was looking straight through him, through the barriers he had hidden his fear behind, and now she was staring straight into his heart and soul. Shepard wasn't sure if he liked the feeling or not, but he did take comfort in the fact that he was not alone in his worry. Tali was right with him.

Tali was right there beside him. She always was. They had been on many missions together, and saved each other's lives many more. They had saved the entire galaxy along with Garrus, a human and a quarian and a turian. It seemed funny to Shepard that he could relate to Tali and her people better than he could relate to his own race. His mind now drifted back to a different time than before...

_They had fallen through the glass and to the ground just like Saren, who was ressurected by Sovreign and now proceeded to attack them with all he had. Shepard had switched to his shotgun, and quickly fired a carnage round at the thing that now tried to destroy him. Tali had gotten up and did the same while Garrus overloaded Saren's shields. And the battle want on for a long while until it was becoming clear that they were winning, but the beast sensed defeat and now jumped off of the walls to avoid being hit. A rocket he fired knocked Garrus out cold, and another knocked Tali off her feet while yet another screamed in for the final blow, and Shepard activated his barrier and dove torwards her, and he was ready to die for his companion. He was ready to die without a moment's pause. _

_The explosion wounded Shepard in the leg, breaking the bone, and Sovreign lunged in for the kill. Shepard turned and used a biotic lift, suspending Saren in the air. Tali saw the chance, and fired three shotgun rounds, each hitting the fiend in the head. The monster roared and thrashed in pain, and Shepard used a biotic throw. Saren hit the wall, blood gushing out of his mouth, and he moved no more._

"There it is," said Garrus.

Shepard awoke from his daydream to see the geth base. A heavy wave of deja vu hit him as they approached. There were still no geth, but the husk spikes still remained outside the base from the last mission.

Shepard took command of the situation. "Alright, you know what to do. Let's get in and out before they know what hit 'em."

The four hopped out of the Mako, and entered the base. The doors slid open to reveal an empty room. Shepard moved in first followed by Wrex, Tali, then Garrus.

"There's no one here," Tali said. "Why would your admiral send us to an empty base? I wonder if-"

**BOOM!!**

A rocket hit no more than a yard from Wrex, and the four immediatedly dove into some form of cover.

Shepard said what they already knew. "Shit! Enemy contacts!"

The commander slid behind a crate and looked to see Tali behind another to his right. Wrex and Garrus were on either side of the doorway. He looked the other way to see four geth troopers, one shock trooper, one rocket trooper, and what he made out to be a sniper on the upper level.

The soldiers went to work. Shepard used his comm to coordinate his squad. "Garrus, take out that sniper! Wrex, lift that rocket trooper. Tali, use carnage when it's in the air!"

Shepard activated the overkill on his assault rifle and took out one geth trooper. While he was turning his attention to a second one, a jet of red light sped past his head, barely missing. He ducked back under cover, and looked at the upper level. Shepard saw another streak of light, this time blue, impact the source of the enemy sniper round.

"Target down!" Garrus confirmed.

Shepard heard a blast come from his right. The other two squad members had made short work of the rocket trooper, but now Tali and Shepard were pinned down by the remaining three troopers. Wrex saw the opporitunity, and rushed out of cover, straight at the enemy. The geth saw him, but Wrex was too fast. He bashed the shock trooper over the head with his shotgun, and fired a round into it while it was down. Brutal, but sometimes, that was exactly what was needed to win a fight. The other two troopers turned to fire at Wrex, but another one of Garrus's sniper rounds reduced the number of hostiles to only one. Shepard leaned out and used a biotic warp on the last trooper, draining its health. Tali drew her pistol, and placed a single shot in the center of the geth's flashlight eye.

"Negative contacts, Commander," Tali reported.

The four relaxed and checked themselves for wounds. They found none and moved on. Sometimes in a fight, the adrenaline hypes you up so much that you don't even realize it if you get shot. Checking themselves in the past had proved that fact to be true. While clearing the rest of the room, Shepard noticed something that wasn't there before. Shepard called this to the group's attention.

"Hey guys, is it just me, or was that elevator not there before?"

The four turned to look at the new discovery. There was indeed an elevator on the far side of the room. Just as they were about to investigate, the comm buzzed to life again. It was Joker.

"Uhh, Commander."

"What is it Joker?" Shepard inquired.

"Well...do you want the bad news, the worse news or the shitty news first?"

For the sake of time, Shepard went along with his pilot's bad humor. "I guess the bad news."

"I think this is a trap."

Shepard and the others were dumbstruck. "Holy shit, you figured that out yourself?"

Joker was quick to reply. "Hey, you don't keep me around for my charming personality. Now, moving on to the worse news. I'd assume that you'd want to follow the natural order of things, so-"

"Dammit, Joker, just cut to the chase!" Shepard was growing more and more aggrivated by the second. He was pissed.

"Alright, alright. Umm...the scan came through. I'm getting what looks like a bomb powerful enough to take out the entire base in the lower levels. Unless you want this to end like Virmire, I suggest you do something about it. By the way, were there any lower levels the last time we came here?"

It all came together. Lure them into the base, occupy them with some throw-away troops, and boom. Problem solved.

Shepard kept his cool in spite of the danger. "Tali, do you think you can defuse the bomb?"

Tali crossed her arms. "How long do I have?"

"I'd say about fve minutes, no more."

She smiled under her visor. "Piece of cake."

Wrex frowned and spoke his mind. "Hold on. Why can't we just walk out the front door and be long gone by the time the bomb goes off?"

Shepard took his earlier thought back. Krogans were definately the ugliest when they frowned.

There was a pause on the other end of the comm. "Because there's a battalion of geth outside."

Nobody moved. Nobody spoke. Nobody even breathed. Even Wrex, the cockiest member of the team, didn't made a sound. A superbomb was inside with them and a thousand soldiers were outside. A thousand enemy soldiers. _A thousand_.

The comm spoke once more.

"...that was the shitty news in case you were wondering."


	4. Countdown

Chapter 4!

Sorry it took so long, but I had some stuff to do.

Now, back to the action.

* * *

Shepard couldn't believe what he had just heard. No one could. Not Tali, not Wrex, not Garrus, not one of them could grasp the idea that they were outnumbered a thousand to four. The members of the team sat in dead silence as they let the reality sink in to their skin and burn into their brains. Shepard was no exception.

_"A batalion! How is that possible? A thousand of those things are outside! We could barely handle a hundred in the Citidel!"_

The geth had never shown themselves in this large of a contengency. They had just faced a handful on the way in, and it was no problem. But a thousand, _a thousand _of them knocking on the front door! It was too hard to accept.

The commander could barely breathe. He removed his stifling helmet to try to get some air, but nothing lessened the panic that ricocheted inside of him. The Mako was nothing compared to this nausea. Shepard ran his hand through his dark brown hair and wiped the sweat off his brow, trying to get a hold of himself. He had never, ever lost his cool before. He was the most calm and collected person on the battlefield, the dark humored one one who laughed at the face of death, but this...this was just too much to handle.

_"Shit...what the hell do we do now? We can't fight a thousand geth, and if we stay here..."_

"Well Shepard...w-what's the plan?" Tali asked. Her voice quavered as she spoke.

His mind fumbled for an answer to that very question. Shepard felt like he was in an oven, roasting in his skin. His blood boiled inside, his eyes lost focus of his surroundings, his fingers trembled. He clenched his fist to lessen the motion spawned from his fear, but his entire arm shook right with it.

_"Come on, Shepard, think! You've been in worse situations before! Stay calm, just stay calm."_

Shepard closed his eyes, and took a deep breath, letting himself relax and slow down. He calmly analyzed the situation and looked for something, anything that could give them an advatage, some kind of an edge. His mind grasped for the answer to the problem that was before him, although it eluded him for a time. Then...just maby...he had an idea.

Shepard took another breath, and spoke, laying out their one and only shot at survival. "Alright, first thing's first. Tali, you and I will head to the lower level and defuse the bomb. Garrus, Wrex, search the upper levels. There has to be a control room somewhere. Find it and activate the manual lockdown. It won't stop the batalion, but it will slow them down for a while. There's bound to be geth guarding both places, so be ready."

"That leaves us no way out," said Garrus.

Shepard had considered the fact that they would be left without an exit, but he also decided to take a gamble on that issue.

"If the geth holed themselves up in here, then they must have made themselves a way out." Shepard now spoke into his comm. "Joker, find us another way out, and pronto."

Joker was quick to answer. "You got it Commander. You better get a move on that plan of your's. The geth are closing in fast. ETA, about five or ten minutes."

"Which one is it, five or ten?" Shepard questioned.

There was a pause before Joker answered, "Ten."

Shepard looked at his squad, maby for the last time. The feeling was not alien to him. Now, unlike before, it was not fear that gripped him, but a sense of excitement that he had felt so many times before combat. The adrenaline rushing through his veins was like a drug. Shepard cosed his eyes, savoring the moment.

And he smiled. His dark grin found its way across his face once more.

Shepard opened his eyes. "Alright, let's go."

Wrex and Garrus headed to the stairs on the far side of the room while Shepard and Tali headed to the elevator. The pair in the elevator stepped in and watched as the doors slowly closed. It was like they were entering the firey pits of hell itself with all its monsters and demons waiting to shake them by the hand.

Shepard let out a sigh. _"They don't pay me enough for this job."_

* * *

Tali stood beside Shepard, chilled to the bone. She was not as near as calm as Shepard was, but she accepted the fact that some handled the though of dying better than others. She just hoped that Shepard wouldn't try anything crazy like that time on Ilos when he had taken out two armatures by running in, taking one's leg off with a grenade, and then biotic throwing it into the other.

You could say that Sheaprd was a little...creative.

The elevator seemed like it couldn't move any slower. Tali grew anxious as she waited and tried not to fidget. It wasn't working. To relieve the tension, she tried to strike up a conversation with Shepard.

"So...do you have a plan on how to secure the bomb?"

Shepard didn't turn his gaze from the doors. When his answer came, it was frank and simple.

"Nope."

The response wasn't exactly what Tali wanted to hear, so she tried another approach.

"Any kind of tactics, or...strategy maby?"

"Don't get shot."

Shepard remained silent for a moment, then looked over at Tali and smiled. His expression almost said 'this is going to be fun.' She looked into his dark brown eyes and smiled back. The moment was interrupted by the elevator slowing and coming to a stop. Tali took out her shotgun, savoring the Specter gear's mobility, and prepared herself for battle. Shepard drew his assault rifle and did the same.

"Ready?" Shepard asked.

Tali took a deep breath. "Yeah, I'm ready."

They both nodded to each other, and Shepard punched the door control in the elevator. The door quickly slid open, and the two jumped out.

The expected gunfire didn't come.

"Stay sharp and find that bomb," Shepard whispered.

Shepard and Tali readied their weapons again and surveyed their surroundings. They were in some sort of an underground mine below the base. Large metal crates were scattered around the cave, and there were several containers that were labeled dangerous and explosive. Tali had worked in many mines before her Pilgrimage, but none had given her an erie vibe like this. The two soldiers, still alert, crept through the cave. There was aobut an inch of water on the ground, making it almost impossible to step silently.

And there was that feeling again. That sense of unease that had haunted Tali before. This was not right.

They had circled around the whole room and found nothing. The two met back in the center.

"No trace of the bomb," reported Tali, trying to sound professional.

"Shit..." Shepard swore. From his expression, Tali could tell that he was not happy either. "Where is it then? We've checked the whole room."

The familiar sound of comm units buzzing to life reached Tali's ears. It was Garrus speaking. Gunshots and explosions rang out in the background. The Turian was definately under some stress judging from his voice.

"Commander, we found the control room! It looks like the Geth made some rennovations too. The entire base is twice as big as it was before!"

Wrex's voice could be faintly heard, shouting insults at the enemy.

"How much resistance?" inquired Shepard.

After Garrus let out a burst of fire, he replied, "It'll be tough, but we can handle it!" The comm died, bringing silence.

Shepard proceeded to run a second sweep over the cavern, but Tali was wrapped up in her own thoughts, trying to come up with a solution.

_"If I was a geth, where would I conceal a 50 megaton bomb in a small mine?"_

Her eyes drifted over her surroundings. The explosive ion containers, the red walls filled with iron, the slow-moving water on the floor, the large metal crates, the-

_The crates!_

Tali returned from the depths of her mind and sprinted to the nearest crate. She drew her pistol and tapped the gun's handle against the steel exterior twice. _Cling. Cling._ Hollow. She moved on to the next one, and did the same. Shepard took notice of what she was doing.

"Tali, what are you-"

"It's in the crates! That's where they are hiding it!" Tali practically jumped as she said this.

Shepard's eyes grew wide, and wasting no time, joined Tali in the search. They circled around the room, tapping each crate as they went. On the eighth inspection, Tali's pistol made a different sound.

_Thunk. Thunk._

Tali's heart skipped a beat. "Shepard, over here!"

The commander rushed over to the Quarian and examined the tightly sealed metal box. He felt inclined to state the obvious.

"That's going to be tought to open."

Tali reached for the back of her belt, taking out a satchel and a remote detonator. She set the charge on the hinges of the crate, carefully positioning it to get the best results. The lights on the device turned from green to red, signaling that it was armed. The figure spectating was not enthused.

"Wait, you're not going to...are you?" Shepard gave Tali a look of disbelief. Tali smiled back.

The two jumped behind another metal box for cover, and Tali detonated the satchel. The explosion was deafening, and the walls of the cave shook with it. However, the charge was successful in breaking off the lid of the container. Inside sat the bomb, counting down the seconds until their doom. It was about the size of a small car, and Shepard had to use a biotic lift just to be able to move it out of its coccun of alloy.

Shepard took notice of another thing. "If that blast was enough to almost cause a cave-in, then this bomb could take the base's foundation right out from under it. The entire complex would be leveled!"

Tali readied her omni-tool and approached the huge metal explosive. "Then we better defuse it, and fast." With that, Tali went to work on decrypting and defusing the bomb. Shepard drew his shotgun from his back, and kept an eye on the entrances. Once again, the comm buzzed to life. It was Garrus.

"Commander, the control room is clear. Also...we found the manual override." His last words came out tenatively.

Shepard frowned. "Well then, why isn't it activated?"

There was a pause. Tali took note that silence was seldom a good sign. "...Well, Wrex went a little crazy...got excited...he fired a carnage, and...it...missed...the geth...and..."

Shepard's expression was unreadable now. "Garrus, _don't tell me_ that you two destroyed the manual override controls."

There was a longer pause. "Do you want Wrex to tell you?"

"Son of a bitch!" Tali heard Shepard add a few other curses under his breath. After he got himself together, the Specter spoke into the comm again. "Alright, alright...do we have a way out?"

"...Yes, Joker came through for us. We're going to exit using the conveyer systems on the west end. You two have an escape tunnel on the far wall that leads behind the base, and into the mountains. Wrex and I will pick up the Mako and rendezvous with you there."

"Got it. See you-"

_Whoosh_

The elevator door slid open, bringing a new problem to attention. Geth.


	5. Tick Tick Boom

Chapter 5!

Now where was I...

* * *

The geth streamed into the room, guns blazing as they rushed forward to lay waste to the two before them. Shepard drew his shotgun and took cover behind the mangled crate next to him. Tali ducked down behind the bomb, using it as a shield while still trying to defuse it. Shredder rounds flew over Shepard's head as he tried to return fire. He peered over the layer of metal that seperated him from certain death and tried to see just how badly they were outnumbered.

_"Four...six...nine...eleven troopers..."_

A red jet of light ricocheted off of the crate, inches from the Specter's head.

_"And a sniper that is really pissing me off."_

Shepard reached into his belt and pulled out a grenade. He pulled the pin, and the explosive flashed red as he threw it at two oncoming geth. The fusion explosive tore through the synthetics, severing a few limbs as it detonated at their feet. Shepard jerked back into cover and blindfired with his shotgun, spraying incinerary rounds at his foes. His weapon promptly overheated, giving the geth the oppritunity to raise up and fire at him. Shepard stayed behind the crate, waiting for his weapon to cool off. He turned to Tali, who was still trying to defuse the bomb.

"How much longer?" Shepard asked.

Tali answered without looking up from her omni-tool. "Five minutes, maby less."

Shepard pumped and readied his shotgun. "Let's hope for less."

He raised up again, catching one unsuspecting geth off-gaurd. The trooper paid for his mistake by taking two slugs in the chest, the armor piercing rounds ripping him to pieces. The nine other enemies quickly scrambled back in a desprate search for some form of protection as they saw their comrade hit the ground. Shepard caught one with a shotgun round, but the trooper's kinetic barriers intercepted the bullets, and he was able to evade any damage by diving behind a deposit of iron ore.

"Damn," Shepard swore. Shepard activated a carnage round in his shotgun, and he fired it at the enemy who had eluded him. The high-explosive round broke through the slab of rock, showering the trooper with superheated metal and stone. The geth tried to raise his arm for another shot, but it fell, and he moved no more.

The carnage had once more over heated Shepard's shotgun, and the lone sniper saw his oppritunity to pick off his adversary. He rasied up and sighted his weapon, aiming straight at the commander. Shepard closed his eyes and braced himself, but the expected impact didn't come. Instead, he heard three rounds fired in rapid succession and opened his eyes just in time to see them slam into the sniper's chest. Another trooper had raised up to do the same, but Shepard caught him in a biotic lift, suspending him in the air. Two more rounds caught the trooper right in the head, leaving a hole in the middle of the geth's eye, or whatever the hell that flashlight thing was.

Shepard turned once more to Tali, who had just deactivated the marksman on her new weapon. The HMWSG pistol was giving her a good deal of accuracy, and the Quarian was using every bit of it.

Shepard mouthed the words, "Thank you," and made a mental note to not let his gun overheat again.

Tali nodded, holstered her pistol, and went back to defusing the bomb. Shepard peered over the crate and counted how many were left.

_"Two...four...six. Halfway there."_

Shepard suddenly had an idea. He readied his shotgun, raised up, and fired as fast as he could at anything that moved. The geth didn't even fire back. They simply waited for what had happened before, and they knew would happen again. Shepard knew that they knew it, but it failed to stop him from unloading eight rounds into rock and metal before his weapon made the distinct sound that told its user that it was spent.

_Beep!Beep!Beep!Beep!Beep!_

Overheated. A trooper heard the sound of the gun, the signal that the marine was defenseless, and sighted its weapon for the kill. Shepard, in one quick move, dropped his shotgun, drew his pistol, and placed five shots in the enemy. The first three dropped the kinetic barriers, and the next two hit the geth unchecked by any shields.

Shepard smiled. "_I feel like Clint Eastwood." _He immediately discarded the thought.

In spite of the damage, the trooper remained standing, its weapon still raised for the kill. Shepard formed a claw with his free hand. His palm glowed a flourescent blue, which ran up his arm, and eventually illuminated his entire body. He thrust his hand straight at the wounded geth, which flew backwards at an unnatural speed and inpacted another one of his comrades behind him. Both hit the wall and fell to the floor, motionless.

The remaining four geth proved to be tough. They had now moved to either side of the two members of the Normandy, and were trying to flank them. Tali had deactivated her omni-tool, and she now took cover beside Shepard. The two were pinned down, and there was no way to get in a shot at the geth. If they didn't do something, they were doomed. Shepard's kinetic barriers took several hits, almost entirely depleting them. They made the same sound his shotgun did.

_Beep!Beep!Beep!Beep!Beep!_

Shepard looked around the room for an escape. He found none. Everything was pure cacophony. Rounds screamed over their heads. The two could only wait as the geth's bullets grew closer and closer, from a foot away to ten inches, to five, and then one. The commander searched for something that could get them out of this.

The idea came suprisingly easily. The walls.

Shepard turned to face Tali. "Shoot the walls!"

Tali didn't seem to understand. "What? Why!?"

Shepard's kinetic barriers dropped to absolute zero.

"SHOOT THE WALLS!"

There was no questioning that. The two opened fire on the cavern, blasting away at the layer of stone and metal that now held them. The entire mine began to shake, and the stone wall began to break apart. Boulders that weighed as much as half a ton rolled down, breaking apart as they hit the floor. The geth, unprotected and unexpecting, were helpless. A rain of iron and granite descended upon them, crushing the synthetics where they stood. Shepard and Tali laid low and waited for the avalance to subside. When the dust cleared, there were no more geth standing.

Tali ran back to the bomb and resumed defusing it. Shepard tried to contact Garrus and Wrex.

"Garrus, Wrex, report!" There was no response for a time. Then, the comm crackled to life. Garrus was speaking, and there was gunfire in the background, even more so than before. To add to the confusion, the comm was being partially jammed by something.

"Commander! The geth...inside! We can't...much longer! Th...too many fo...ut...Get...out..."

Shepard didn't hear most of what Garrus said, but he understood what he did. They didn't have much time.

"Tali, how much longer? The geth are inside!"

Tali was working vigorously. "I just need another minute!"

Shepard could hear the geth right above him.

"We don't have another minute!"

Shepard sighed, frusterated. "Tali, hurry up! How much longer?!"

The Quarian responded quckly. "We have ninety seconds until detonation! Most of it is inactive, but it still has enough power to kill both of us!"

The elevator now moved up its shaft. The geth were coming down, and there were a lot more than twelve topside.

Shepard couldn't wait any longer. "Tali, leave it! We need top head for the escape tunnel, now!"

Despite her commander's order, Tali remained where she was. "I can do this!"

Shepard grabbed Tali's arm, deactivating her omni-tool. "NOW!"

The two sprinted for the exit. The tunnel doors flew open, revealing a long, narrow passage with a faint trace of light emerging from the other end. They raced torwards it, not once looking back. Echos of the events behind them rebounded throught the cave. The bomb's timer was slow and steady, counting down the seconds until the end of the complex's existance.

"Thirty seconds!"

The elevator shaft sounded again. More geth were on the way down, unknowing of the firey judgement that awaited them. An entire army marched outside, bringing the same end to the two that now fled. Gears turned, motors worked, feet hit the ground, all bringing the enemy ever closer. The light was growing, and Shepard could now see outside, could see the desolate paradise of Solcrum just beyon reach.

"Twenty seconds!"

Shepard's thoughts turned to Wrex and Garrus. If they were at the pickup zome, if they even made it out at all. Nothing was sound in his mind as this apocolypse drew near, and nothing could stop it. The sound of the elevator doors told Shepard that the geth were inside now, searching the cavern for the enemy that could do them no harm, standing next to the threat that would destroy them.

_"And maby us too,"_ thought Shepard.

Tali's voice sounded again. "Five seconds!"

The light grew closer. And closer. And closer...

The walls began to shake. The ground beneath thier feet trembled, and soon the tremors grew into an earthquake. A second light grew behind them, bringing death and destruction instead of safety and hope. The heat from the blast was unbearable. Sweat ran down the back of Shepard's neck, stinging his scar. The sweltering flames rose behind them, ready to devour them, to consume them in one fell swoop. They were no more than a stride from the exit.

"Tali, JUMP!"

Shepard threw himself into the air and hit the ground with a thud. The flames rushed over his head with a terrifying roar. Embers scorched his back again and again, and just when it seemed that Shepard couldn't take any more, the fire died. With an effort, Shepard struggled to his feet.

His first thought was of Tali. Quickly, he searched for the Quarian and turned to see her laying a few yards away. Her armor was charred black from the explosion, and Shepard discovered that his was too. Tali was trying to get up with more of an effort that Shepard had made. He could only respect the Quarian's perserverance. Finally, Tali rose. She spoke with an air of frustration and annoyance.

"Shepard, what were you thinking? I could have defused that bomb!"

Tali was the only one that was bold enough to question Shepard's command, and oddly, Shepard respected her even more for it. She wasn't afraid to stand up to athourity.

"Well, now the geth think that we're dead. That will make it easier to get away," Shepard replied gently.

Tali's look of convivtion changed to one of humility. Her head sunk. "Shepard...I'm sorry. I shouldn't have-"

"Don't worry about it. Let's just get off this piece of rock."

Tali looked up and nodded. Shepard tried his comm, but there was still interferance. Tali drew her pistol and prepared for an attack.

"Relax," said Shepard. "It's just the explosion messing with the radio. We need to get to higher ground."

With that, the two holstered their weapons and began to hike over the hill harboring the now-destroyed escape tunnel. The hill was fairly steep, and there were a few instances where Shepard or Tali lost their footing, but after a few minutes, they reached the mesa's peak. Once they were on top, they had a full view of Solcrum's barren plains. The tunnel had indeed led them into the mountains.

"Shepard, look!" cried Tali. She pointed to a column of smoke rising in the distance.

It was the base, now reduced to a pile of rubbel. Shepard's comm now came to life once again. It was Joker.

"Normandy to shore party, do you copy? Shore party, do you read?"

"Yeah, were here Joker," Shepard answered.

"Commander, thank God! When we saw the blast, we thought that..." Joker didn't finish the thought.

Shepard didn't either. "Where are you Joker?"

"Just picked up Garrus and Wrex, and we're headed to your position right now. Wrex caught one in the foot, so he's with Doc. ETA, about...now actually."

Shepard looked up to see the SSV Normandy descending torwards them. He had never been so happy to see his ship before, and the Specter was eager to get out of his armor.

_"Man, the first thing I'm going to do when I get on board is-"_

**BOOM!**

Shepard looked up just in time to see an explostion rock the side of the Normandy. The projectile barely missed the thrusters, and it slammed into the hull, bypassing the ship's shields.

"The Normandy's hit!" shouted Joker.

Shepard knew that another anti-aircraft missle like that could tear the ship to pieces. The entire crew could be stranded or killed, and there would be no way to call for help. He radioed Joker and made a split-second decision.

"Joker, get out of here! Don't worry aobut us!"

"But Commander," the pilot protested.

"NOW!" It was not a suggestion, it was an order.

Shepard saw the Normandy hover for a few seconds, then ascend into the sky, dissappearing into the atmosphere. A second missle barely missed the ship as it fled. The vessel grew smaller and smaller until it faded into the stars, leaving the two on the mountainous wasteland.

"Shepard, Tali," Joker said in agony. "We'll come back for you. I promise."

* * *

And that's chapter 5.

Now it's time for them to make their great escape. I promise that it's going to be awesome.


	6. Desperation

Chapter 6!

First, I would like to say thank you to everyone for their reviews and encouragement.

Also, thank you Exdeamon for motivating me to get off my xbox and write this thing.

Now, back to the action.

* * *

Tali looked up at the stars, obscured by nothing, staring down at them. The clear night sky illuminated the moon on which they stood, hopeless. Infinity presented itself above them, the everlasting distance between them and any hope of life. The night's candles never looked so beautiful to Tali, but the view was tainted by the creeping revelation that she would never leave this place.

They had been left behind.

There was no denying it. There was no other way to say it. There was no friend who could help them, no soldier who could fight off the masses descending upon them as surely as the sun would rise at dawn. There was no hope. This place would be their tomb after all.

_"This can't be...but it is. Keelah, what is there left to do now?"_

There was nothing. Tali turned to Shepard, a dead woman looking at a dead man. He was glaring at the ground, his eyes in a death stare. His face was pale, his knuckles white as if all the blood had been drained from them. Tali had never such a strong urge to just lay down and give up. A wave of exhaustion suddenly rushed over her as she finally accepted the fact that they were about to die. A thousand geth seemed strangely casual at this point. It would be so easy to just rest...for a minute...for an hour...for the rest of her life...

"Tali..." Shepard stammered. His grave voice sent chills through the Quarian. "I'm sorry. I had no choice. There was no time..."

Tali looked at the man in front of her. Even in the face of death, he treated her as his equal, never showing any spite. She experienced a sudden wave of sympathy for her commander. And then, she felt a need to comfort him, to give him strength. Ever since they had known each other, Shepard had always been the unshakeable one. Now it was her turn to be strong. She walked over to the Specter, put her hand on his shoulder, and looked him in the eye.

"Shepard, it's okay. We can make it through this." There was little truth in her words, but it seemed like the best thing to say. Shepard still looked as grave as before. Tali spoke to him as gently as she could. "Come on Shepard, come up with one of those brilliant plans of yours."

The commander smiled and laughed at this. "Well, not exactly brilliant. Especially that that time on Ilos with the armatures..."

Tali laughed as well. "Don't remind me."

For a moment, the two looked each other in the eyes, and Tali felt a sensation unlike anything before it. It was a feeling of peace, and...security that as long as the two of them were together, nothing could go wrong. Shepard stated back at her, the same dream stare in his pupils, captivating the two in an enchanting embrace. Tali suddenly noticed how close they were to each other. The world was perfect in this instant, and nothing else mattered as long as Shepard was by her side. At first, the feeling was foreign to her, but she slowly began to realize that it was...affection. Affection for Shepard.

She liked the feeling.

The moment was interrupted by a deep rhythm in the distance. It shook the ground with its pulse.

"An earthquake?" Tali wondered aloud.

"No," said Sheaprd. "Battle formations. It's the batalion, and they're moving."

No sooner had Shepard's words left his mouth did Tali see a quantity of troops in the distance. The sea of geth swep over the plains of the moon, searching for something. It was them.

"Great," said Shepard.

"I thought you said they thought we were dead!" Tali was becoming unnerved by the sound of the geth's march.

"As you tell me, the geth are very thourough."

Tali took a guess at how many troops she was looking at. She thought that about two hundred was somewhere in the ballpark.

"Shepard, we can't stay here. Solcrum's too small and barren for us to hide."

Shepard began to pace, like he always did when presented with a problem. Tali hoped that he could figure out some way to ge them out of the jam they were in.

A thought occurred to the Quarian. "Shepard, can't we just radio Joker and tell him to meet us at another LZ?"

"No," said Shepard. "The geth know something's up now that they saw the Normandy try to land, so they have the comm links jammed. Even if we could get a transmission off, it would give away our position, and we'd be dead for sure."

Shepard paced a while longer, often wondering aloud. Tali tried to come up with an idea of her own, but she always found some flaw in it that ruined the entire strategy. Tali was just about to give up when Shepard abruptly stopped and ran a hand through his dark brown hair, and turned to face her. He didn't seem enhused.

"I know how we're getting out of here." The Specter was oddly nonchalant about his words.

Tali suddenly took heart with the knowledge that they might not be finished yet. "Well, what is it?"

"You...aren't going to like it."

"Shepard, I've battled countless geth with you, I've been on hundreds of missions by your side, and I have been through some of the worst ideas ever concieved by millitary personel, no offense. I think I can handle one more crazy idea."

Shepard sighed. He obviously wasn't too fond of the idea himself.

"You ever rode in a geth dropship?"

* * *

"Okay, so let me get this straight," said Tali. "Once the geth have searched enough to be convinced that we died in the blast, we are going to sneak on board one of the geth dropships, ride it to its destination, which we don't know, get off board unnoticed, and have the Normandy pick us up wherever the hell we land. Correct?"

"Basically," replied the commander.

The two had manuvered behind the mountains, staying out of the battalion's view. They had run for half an hour before they caught sight of a fleet of geth dropships that had landed on Solcrum. They used the rocky terrain of the mountain side to stay hidden, and they had all comm links turned off to avoid showing up on radar. Tali assumed that they found the source of the 'wind' that they heard while in the Mako. Shepard and Tali were now no more than fifty meters from ten geth dropships, each swarming with synthetic soldiers.

"Great," Tali sighed, peering out from the boulder that concealed her and Shepard. "You sure you don't have a Plan B? Or something that dosen't involve us boarding a vessel full of geth, all intent on finding us?"

"Well, it's either that, or they kill us here. So we're doing it."

Tali couldn't deny that that was blunty their situation. She still was not sure about how they would remain unseen. Just one errenous move could give them away and get them killed. They hadn't even considered how they would disembark while maintaining stealth. There were just too many things that could go wrong, and they both knew it.

"Look," said Shepard. "I know you you don't like this any more than I do, but we're out of options. Just split up and hide in a ship's cargo hold. They won't check there."

"You mean they _hopefully_ won't check there," Tali corrected.

Shepard agreed with her through his silence.

Then, the two suddenly became aware of the synthetics. The geth seemed to be driven by a new objective, and now proceeded to board their vessels.

Shepard didn't waste a minute. "Okay, now's our chance. Stay low and use the rocks for cover. Don't get caught in open plain. Ready...Go!"

Tali jumped up and rushed for the nearest rock on her right while Shepard went the opposite way. She dove and rolled into the stone, praying the geth hadn't seeen her. Luckily, they were too busy with loading up the dropships to take notice of their surroundings. Crouching and moving as slowly as she could, Tali crept torwards the nearest ship, which was no more than twenty meters away. There were five geth outside of the cargo hold, all loading metal containers similar to the ones they saw in the caverns into the vessel.

An idea hit Tali. Still staying low, she moved behind the nearest crate, looking for one that was opened. Not finding one, she tried to lift up one of the crate's lid, and after trying four, she found one that was unlocked. The geth were coming back for more boxes, so Tali slowly opened the lid. Inside were four rocket launchers, each with a heat-seeking lock.

Tali lifted the weapons up and made space for herself inside. She layed down in the crate, closed the lid, and waited.

And waited...and waited...

Soon, she felt the crate being lifted. Tali was certain that she had never been this close to a geth in her life. She waited as the synthetics brought her closer to the ship. The engines grew louder, humming the tune that Tali had learned to fear through the years. Finally, the geth set the crate down in the cargo hold. The doors closed soon after, and Tali felt the ship hover over the ground. She hadn't heard any gunfire, so Tali assumed that Shepard was okay. That would be her only reassurance for this journey.

_"Shepard, I hope you are right about this."_

* * *

"All I want to know is why they haven't found any trace of them!"

Two figure stood on a mountain top, silhouettes against the night sky, overlooking the ruined base and the geth battalion. One was a large, hunchbacked figure with an assault rifle and a shotgun on his back, the other of a smaller build carrying a sniper rifle and a pistol. The larger one was not happy.

"Why can't these damned geth work any faster! I'm not getting paid to babysit!" he growled.

"Patience, Inamorda. These things take time," said the smaller of the two. His voice was cold as the air on the moon itself.

Inamorda responded with the tone of a spoiled child. "Well, make time go faster! And don't push me human. If I sense any disloyalty, I won't hesitate to kill you."

"Yes, my friend, you've established that many times before. Just wait a little longer."

The Krogan grunted. Humans. So ignorant. No wonder they had such a bad reputiation. "I just want to see his cold, dead face and then I'll be satisfied."

"Don't underestimate him. He's a Specter. The council dosen't just hand out that title to anyone. Keep in mind that we are up against the best." This wasn't the first time the two had disagreed.

Inamorda was quick to reply. "IF that explosion didn't kill him, then he's trapped on a shitty excuse of a moon infested with a thousand synthetic soldiers that ALL want to kill him, AND he has no way out!"

The human remained unconvinced. "In any case, give it a while longer-"

"No! I've already ordered the batalion off of this damn rock, and I'm not waiting on your sorry ass!" The krogan turned around to go.

"We were told not to come back until we had proof the Specter was dead. Damien won't like this," said the human.

"Damien is one man!" shouted Inamorda. "There's nothing that can stop us now! What the hell can Damien do?"

"John Shepard is one man. Look what he did to Saren and his Reaper. If you don't want to end up the same way, I suggest that you stay here until you find him, or what's left." The human had learned well to respect his adversary.

Inamorda hadn't. "The only reason _he_ is here is becasue _we_ are here. Even if the Specter is alive, he can rot in this shithole for all I care. We're pulling out, and if you don't hurry up, you _will_ get left behind." With that, the Krogan Battlemaster walked away.

The human remained on the hill, staring down at the scenery.

_"He's down there, and he's alive. It's been a long time, Shepard. I wonder if you'll remember me..."_

The human turned and followed the Krogan.

_"Welcome back, Commander. I'm just dying to see you again."_

* * *

That's it for this chapter.

Things are about to get more complicated.


	7. Arrival

Chapter 7!

I'll cut to the chase.

* * *

_Shepard was laying on a field, the ground strewn with blood. Mangled bodies littered the landscape, corpses half-devoured. The familiar thick, coppery odor of blood reached his nose._

_"Commander!" called a lone marine. He was wounded in the leg, and he now limped to Shepard. The ground shook as the monsters below now made their way to the surface, savoring the meal to come. A dark figure burst out of the ground and snatched up the soldier in its razor sharp fangs. The private cried in pain as he was dragged beneath the surface._

_Shepard now saw more marines, hundreds of them, all wounded on a blood-red battlefield. Every one was struggling torwards the commander as if he would bring them safety, and every one met the same brutal end as the first. All cried out for him as they disappeared into the black abyss below, but there was nothing Shepard could do...nothing._

_There was now a quake below Shepard, and another dark giant sprang from the ground. It towered over him, examining the fresh meat. Shepard tried to move, but he was frozen in place by an unseen force, making him easy prey for the Thresher Maw. Shepard struggled as hard as he could, but to no avail. The creature loaded back, and struck-_

* * *

Shepard jerked up from his slumber inside the small, cramped space that he occupied. His head nearly slammed into the roof of his makeshift sheltar. At first the commander was afraid at waking to this situation, but he gradually remembered where he was. Shepard's heart slowly returned to its normal pulse as he escaped from one peril to face yet another. Sweat poured down his face.

_"Why the hell did I hide in this metal oven? God, it's burning up in here! And who falls asleep at a time like this?"_

Shepard tried to think of something else to avert his mind from the unfortunate situation he was in. He hoped Tali was safe, and maby in a more comfortable enviroment that he was. If he just knew where she was...

A noise outside the crate got Shepard's attention. He lifted up the lid just enough to peer out and see what had made the noise. It was a geth trooper. The commander simply waited for the synthetic to pass by, as it wasn't the first to check the cargo hold. Five others had done the same routine check. Very thourough indeed. Occasionally, they would open a crate to check the condition of the cargo, but Shepard's hadn't fallen under the list of the inspected ones. He hoped that if Tali had hidden in a crate that it hadn't been checked...

The geth finally passed by. Shepard put the lid down once more, bringing darkness around him once again. It was as hot as ever. He wondered if the Quarians' environmental suits kept it cool at times like this. That would be nice. At least Tali would be a little better situated than he was. Tali...

_"Why can't I stop thinking about her?"_

It was true. Shepard had thought of little besides Tali ever since they had left Solcrum. He couldn't get her out of his mind, no matter where it ventured. It would always come back to the strong, independant woman Shepard had been through so much with. All he cared about was her safety.

_"I hope we can both make it out of this, Tali."_

Shepard felt a lurch in the ship's movement unlike any that had shaken the cargo before it. They must be landing. He lifted the lid once more, and seeing no geth outside, climbed out of the metal prision. He stayed low and moved through the crates in the cargo hold, trying to find out what was happening. Shepard heard the engines of the dropship slow down and die, followed by a swarm of activity above him in the ship. They definately had landed.

The commander looked around the cargo hold. There was not much he could do to escape at this point. The doors leading outside and to the upper levels were sealed shut, and they only opened to let geth units in and out. As time dragged on, it became clear that the geth were not going to unload the cargo hold.

_"Nice one Shepard. You didn't think of the possibility that these crates would stay on the ship. Shit."_

The Specter felt a sense of Deja Vu as he remebered the cavern on Solcrum. This didn't feel too different. As the geth buzzed in thier hive around him, Shepard began to think. He still had stealth. He had an endless supply of weapons in the crates. Maby the geth brought something else that could help him get out. Shepard began to open any crate that he could manage to pry the lid off of. He found some useful items and some powerful weapons. Some small arms, four rocket luanchers, satchel charges...However, they didn't aid him in his current dilemma.

_"Let's see here...I could create a diversion with the weapons. No, that would give me away."_

Shepard began to force open the lid on another crate. This one was red instead of the standard blue or gray.

_"I might be able to--son of a bitch!"_

An enraged creature launched itself out of the crate and barreled into Shepard's chest. The commander was knocked off of his feet by the sudden force, and he fell back onto the floor. The ravenous monster lept onto him and began taking bites at his throat. Shepard caught the creature by its own throat with his left arm, holding it back with all his strength. He managed to get his right hand around the animal's head, and he twisted his arms in unison, snapping its neck.

Shepard pushed the now lifeless carcass off of his chest and checked himself for any injuries. His left forearm had been cut by the dog-like creature's fangs, but there was no other wound worth paying attention to. Then, his gaze turned to the dead corpse, teeth still bared for the kill.

_"Damn Varren. What the hell are they doing on a geth ship?"_

The sound of footsteps alerted Shepard of another sentry passing by. He quickly positioned himself by the dead varren's body, and lifted it up. A hot stream of pain ran through Shepard's arm as he held the heavy carcass, but it wasn't enough to stop him from dumping the animal back into the crate from which it came. Shepard made a mental note not to open any more red containers.

The footsteps drew closer, and without any time to hide inside of one of the crates, Shepard dove behind the red box. Judging by the rhythm, he guessed that there were two walking together. The stow-away peered out from the shadows at the enemies, trying to see where they were going. To Shepard's amazement, he heard deep voices accompanying the footsteps. With new intrest sparked, he listened and tried to glean any information he could.

"--a sound from over here. I'm telling you, I heard it!"

A Salarian. The geth had worked with them before in the Citadel and Virmire, and it came as no suprise to Shepard that one would be on board. This one wore a white armor suit.

"It was probably just one of the damn varren waking up. Things are gonna' drive me crazy."

Shepard's heart skipped a beat at the sound of the second voice. _It was a human! _This made Shepard more cautious of the situation. If huamns were working with the geth now, then there was no telling what they planned to do.

"Why the hell does Damien make us keep these poor excuses for dogs on the ship?" The human sounded like the kind of person that didn't care about the mission or the cause, only the pay. He wore dark gray hydra armor.

The Salarian lowered his pistol and began to walk away from Shepard. "Varren can track a scent for miles. That's how we hunted down those Alliance teams stationed here."

"Yeah, and some of the soldiers got away. The Specter did too. Real efficient."

Shepard's stomach did a backflip. Admiral Hackett did say that Alliance units were sent to secure the bases and that all contact was lost with them. They were not the only ones that had eluded the geth.

_"And that might explain why we haven't been caught yet. The geth are preoccupied with other matters."_

Shepard made a mental note to search for some survivors once he got out of here and met up with Tali. The mention of the name Damien didn't mean much to Shepard, probably another hotshot mercenary working with the geth for high wages, so he paid no attention to it. He did, however, watch the pair of hired guns to see where they would exit the cargo bay.

The salarian glared at the human. Their race obviously wasn't know for its rich sense of humor. "Well, if you don't like them, why don't you complain to Damien yourself?"

"Are you crazy? No one questions that guy! The last guy that tried to tell Damien what to do ended up..."

Fortuantely, the two were out of earshot, so Shepard didn't hear what befell the poor soul that tried to challenge this 'Damien,' although he could guess. The two mercenaries strode farther away from Shepard until they reached one of the doors leading to the main ship. The human swept his omni-tool across a scanner, and the door slid open. The activity outside and above hadn't ceased, so Shepard decided against making a break for the door now.

Then it hit him. In spite of the downsides, the fact that humans were on the ship had provided Shepard with an advantage. A way out. If he could get his hands on one of the mercenaries' omni-tools, he could blend in with the rest of the humans on the ship. That is, if he could also disguise his armor. Shepard doubted that any hired gun on this ship could manage to get their hands on Colossus armor.

Shepard crept torwards the door the two mercenaries just passed through. He kneeled behind a crate, drew his pistol, and fired a round into the floor. There was a commotion on the other side of the wall, and Shepard readied himself to pounce on what ever came through. After a minute of conversation, probably about who would go and check out the noise, the door slid open. Shepard saw a shadow pass on the wall as the sentry got closer.

He sprang from cover and caught the mercenary square in the face with an elbow. The gaurd fell to the floor, unconscious.

_"Dammit, it was the salarian."_

The salarian's omni-tool could allow Shepard to escape from the cargo bay, but it did him little good on his disguise apparatus. Then, the commander heard a sound come from his left. It was another mercenary. Shepard quickly grabbed the salarian and dragged him behind the crate which he hid. The footsteps drew closer.

"Hey, Rivan, what the hell was that noise? Did one of the varren get out of--"

Shepard lept from cover to ambush the enemy. This time it was the human, and he had his pistol already drawn. The mercenary wheeled around to face Shepard, but he was too slow. The trained Alliance marine knocked the pistol out of his hand. This however, gave the mercenary the advantage for a split-second as Shepard's focus was diverted on the firearm. He caught Shepard in the face with a punch that would make even a Krogan flinch. Shepard recoiled from the impact and tried to keep his balance.

It was all he could do not to buckle as the mercenary delivered a crippling blow to Shepard's stomach. Relying on only instinct, the marine grabbed the mercenary's shoulder and swept his foot across the hired gun's shins to trip him. If he could get his enemy on the ground, it would be an advantage enough to decide the fight. It would have worked, but the mercenary caught hold of Shepard's neck, and the two went down together.

Shepard ended up on the bottom of the pile, taking blows from his adversary. He quickly reached inside himself for that superhuman power that he used so many times before, but the pain from the repetative punches in the face made it difficult to concentrate. Finally, a sphere of biotic energy exploded between him and the mercenary. The man flew back and slammed into the metal surface of a crate, and he was still.

Shepard layed on the ground for a minute before getting back up. He lightly touched his left cheek, only to have a sharp jolt run through it. No one seemed to notice the fight, or they possibly just didn't care.

_"This is pissing me off. It's time to get out of this ship."_

The commander sluggishly dragged himself over to the human mercenary, and began to detatch his armor and his omni-tool. When it was off, Shepard dumped his body in the crate with the dead varren and did the same with the salarian. He then removed his own armor and donned the newly aquired hydra suit. It dismayed the commander to leave his Colossus armor behind. It was the best armor he had ever worn, and it had saved his life a number of times. Out of pity, he found a crate loaded with other armor suits, marked a small red X on the side with some blood from his lip, and stored his own armor in it with the false hope that he might find it again.

With his makeshift battle suit on, Shepard used the mercenary's omni-tool to unlock the door out of the cargo bay. He was careful enough to wear the helmet to avoid recognition, even if the environment outside was breathable. Shepard took a deep breath, and stepped through the doorway.

_"Tali, hang on. I'm coming"_

* * *

Inamorda and his human comrade stood before a sinister figure, explaining the unsatisfying events of the past few hours. The three were alone in the cockpit of a ship.

"And then we decided to get off that damn piece of rock. The Specter was clearly dead," the Krogan finished.

The shadow was silent for a minute, pondering the indigenous hired gun's report. "And your take on this, Sasha?"

The human remained calm, despite the nervousness of the Krogan beside him. "I think he's still alive."

"That's impossible!" shouted Inamorda. "Why haven't we had any trace of him yet if he's alive?"

"Because _you_ were too impatient and careless to be thourough," came Sasha's simple reply.

"That's enough, both of you." Damien could never get these two to work together in peace. There was definately going to be a fight between them one day. Damien's money was on Sasha.

The leader continued. "Sasha, I can understand your undying desire to seek out Shepard yourself. I know what happened to you on Akuze, but we have more to worry about than this pest."

"Yes, you're right," started the Krogan, "And that's exactly why I ordered the battalion-"

"Silence," commanded Damien. "I know the details of the mission, Inamorda. You broke a direct order. As you well know, the penalty for that is traditionally death."

The Krogan's back stiffened at this. There was not much Inamorda was afraid of. Damien scared the hell out of him no matter what he told Sasha.

"However," he continued, "your usefulness to me is too good to let go to waste, so I'll give you a second chance. Also, if John Shepard turns up again, both of you hunt him down and kill him. If that is too much of a task for you Inamorda, then your usefulness has reached its end."

There was silence as Damien let the threat seep in. Sasha was enjoying every minute of the Krogan's misery, and he was making no attempt to hide it.

"Is that clear?"

"Yes," answered Inamorda.

"Yes, but..." Sasha wanted just one thing more. "_When_, not if, Shepard returns, **I** will be the one to kill him."

* * *

End!

Thanks for reading this far.

More to come, I promise.


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